My original plans for attending ANE got derailed by being fired. I decided not to go, not just due to money concerns, but I was in a bit of a funk and didn't want to bring anyone else down. Ben was going to drive down on Friday for his author panel, hang around for a bit, then drive back to Maine. He suggested I join him and I am glad he convinced me to attend. In the end, we drove down for both Friday and Saturday and I had a great time.

We made good time to Boston on Friday but had some trouble getting to the hotel because the Longfellow Bridge was closed and Massachusetts didn't bother to let any GPS companies know and the city likes making a large number of roads one-way for no frickin reason. Ben finally listened to some of my Matt Ebel CDs, absolutely loving High Orbit Saves the Panda.

We parked, got registered and made our way into the swarm of fuzzy. My job woes evaporated as I espied friends and got caught up taking photographs of friends and fursuiters. The Hyatt is a nice hotel and it was clear the con staff put some thought into how to arrange things. Off the lobby, one hallway led to the game rooms, a headless lounge, registration and a panel room. The rooms were identified with large banners on easels. nahani spent some time here checking badges to keep out the riffraff (ie, nonfurries)

The video game room was astounding as they managed to find antiquated game consoles from the 80s. The board game room, run by lunostophiles, had some pretty interesting games as well. Ben and I came back here Friday night and after looking over the selection picked a kaiju-type game called Rampage. We were pouring over the instructions when a fur called rkniner came over, said he was familiar with the game and offered to assist. We accepted and were joined by Traysandor. We had a lot of fun causing miniature mayhem.

Off the main entrance another passage led to the dealer's den and registers. With a few exceptions, all purchases in the dealer's den or artists alley (located on the second floor near another panel room) were through the con itself. I was led to believe this was to simplify processing taxes (I think so each dealer didn't have to register). The Dragon's Lair, who sell t-shirts, plush and assorted geek items took payment directly, but I presume that being a larger dealer (and one who go to any con, furry or not), they were set up to operate in more states. The registers for everything else were set up off to the side and well organized. This would be something I might be interested in volunteering for in the future.

I wandered the Dealer's Den, looking at the assorted items but not really feeling in the mood to buy anything. This wasn't due to a lack of quality merchandise, just my internal worries about money. At this point I didn't know if I'd qualify for unemployment so I couldn't justify spending money on prints when I didn't know when I'd next get income to cover groceries or utilities.

There are some exceptions though. I located <~!staggard>'s table and spent some time chatting with her and trying not to get in the way of paying customers. Across the aisle from her I saw a familiar book. Back at Anthrocon 2014 I saw a thin science-fictiony book called Professor Odd and The False Student by ElrondDrakendil. I was in a splurgy mood that day and it was only a couple of bucks so I picked it up. It was a fun read with a noticeable Doctor Who vibe. I wasn't able to get the additional books in the series at the next Anthrocon. I don't know if the author didn't attend or I just missed her table (despite several attempts, I wasn't able to visit all the tables in that epicly huge Dealer's Den). So I was thrilled to see her across from Tag. Elrond was dressed in a silk shirt waistcoat and tie. She wouldn't have looked out of place in an office...except this sorta...woolen hat that went from her cheeks, covered the top of her head and tapered to a curve with a dangly bell. The hat looked like it came from the North Pole, though to be fair it was lavender, like the rest of her ensemble. For some reason I kept thinking "Cindy Lou Who". I purchased the next seven books in the Odd series, which she cheerfully signed, and told me she was doing a reading Saturday afternoon, which I promised to attend.

I went to Ben's reading which was right after a panel on publishing. I thought it went well, though you'd want to ask Ben for his opinion. After the panel Ben was in serious need of food so we tried to see who might want to get together for dinner. No one seemed interested in Fire+Ice (which was probably because I overestimate the cost of the meal and turned people off of it) so we joined Kota, Radar, Steele, Novar, Attenik and others in ordering some Chinese.

After dinner was when Ben and I played Rampage. Following this we found out several mainefurs had gathered in the Zoo (located off the front entrance) to play Cards Against Humanity. It was my first time playing and I had a lot of fun. But it was getting on towards midnight so after a couple of rounds Ben and I returned to Maine, hoping to get enough sleep.

Checking the mailbox, I received a letter from the Department of Labor approving my unemployment (pending appeal by PC). This was great news as it would mean a small bit of income for the coming months.

Saturday morning Ben and I shambled out of our beds, showered and opted to take my car down. Ben had discovered Elrond and was also interested in seeing her panel. He did not object to me driving as due to my leadfoot, I'd get there with plenty of time. I guess the box of fabric softener sheets I left under the seats worked as Ben said he didn't notice a cigarette smell in the car this time (the prior owner/leaser of my car smoked a fucking lot).

We arrived with plenty of time for Elrond's panel. She read a short story set in one of her novel-verses (Driving Arcana, I think). A delightful Transformation story, and she read it very well. That is, she didn't simply read the text, but performed it; giving a sense of character to each voice.

The rest of the afternoon was given over to more wandering around, chatting with friends, and taking photos. There was a slight flurry of snow around 3p and several suiters went out to a small courtyard to enjoy the snow, bundled up in their warm suits. I joined them to take photos and got several quizzical looks as I was wearing nothing more than a tshirt and my usual bowling shirt. I was repeatedly asked if I wasn't cold, I just shrugged and said I didn't mind (I also have a lot of food-based padding).

I ran into Kistune Cavalier, a Massfur who was having a problem with her Chinese parasol. The wooden shaft had broken right where the runner was. With her permission I looked it over to see if it could be repaired. Steele was nearby and offered to run to his room and get a Leatherman tool. With that, I was able to take the parasol apart, duct tape the shaft and put it back together good enough to last the rest of the con until she could get home and apply a more permanent fix.

I had some fun with that. I don't get the opportunity to do much diy, so it was nice to get in some hands-on repairwork..

I took some more photos of assorted suiters. I took some of suiters and regular humans, then told them to "now kiss" and they did! The power of a photographer!

I made one more pass through the Dealer's Den and at Dragon's Lair's wall of plush saw a wolf I didn't already have in my collection. He was a chubby fellow with those eyes which said "take me home". So I did. Some people are addicted to drugs, some to gambling, some Robert Palmer fans are addicted to love. I've got a weakness for wolf plush.

The snow had picked up over the afternoon and evening. Ben was still adamant to dine at Fire+Ice but the weather was becoming a factor. And this is Boston, where driving is like being in a Mad Max movie, only with more profanity. I applied my skills to the 2mile drive, found ample parking across the street and we went in to pig out. I saw a few people I recognized and a couple of ANE badges.

Returning was more problematic as all the lower level parking at the Hyatt was full. We drove up and up. And as we got close to the top, the ramps leading up had a few inches of show, requiring some dexterous maneuvers to top them. We finally found a spot on the top floor, all covered in snow.

I met a few more online friends, hung out, and joined another Mainefurs CaH game in the Zoo. But all things must come to an end, and Ben and I had to return to Maine. One downside to the weekend was, just before we decided to leave, I got a text from a friend inviting me up to his room for...snuggles. Such terrible timing.

The drive home wasn't too bad. A lot of the snow in Boston had been ground to slush by the salt trucks and traffic. Once we hit New Hampshire the roads were clear and apparently the storm never made it this far north. The next day there was a clear reminder that we had driven through through slushy roads, there was so much roadsalt coating my car that it looked like it hosted a pigeon convention.

All in all, while I didn't attend many panels or buy much swag (or get laid), I did have fun talking with older friends, putting faces to more online names and in general socializing with fun people. I will definitely do what I can to attend next year and maybe even volunteer. And as always, the allure of wearing a fursuit takes hold, so maybe I can borrow one from a friend sometime.